Intent
by ReaverPoet
Summary: This is a Swan Queen fic and a continuation of the story that started with Matchmaker, and continued with The Cost Of One Dance. It's not particularly smutty, but is a precursor to smut which will go in the next story. This one is mostly romance, with some kissing. Emma reacts to the night she spent with Regina, and Henry learns a secret about Storybrooke. Please leave feedback!


Intent

By ReaverPoet

Working from: Once Upon A Time Season 2

Warning: Lesbian kissing

Rating: T

Complete?: Yes

Disclaimer: No copyright challenge is intended. Not distributed for money.

Summary: This is a continuation of the story that started with Matchmaker, and continued with The Cost Of One Dance. It's not particularly smutty, but is a precursor to smut which will go in the next story. This one is mostly romance. As the title implies, some of this is a reaction to the OUAT writer's comment that erotic tension between Emma and Regina is unintentional.

Archive: yes, but do not edit in any way, and keep all headings.

Feedback: Please leave some! Flames, trolls, and general meanness will be completely ignored, but constructive criticism will be treasured.

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"Intention is a tricky thing. Cup of tea?" said the young, Oriental woman, gesturing towards the low table, where a teapot steamed next to a plate of small sandwiches.

Henry hesitated, not because she seemed dangerous, or unfriendly, but because she, and her little table of snacks seemed completely out of place in the nightmare of flames he always found himself in when he slept, since he'd eaten the poisoned turnover.

He considered several opening questions, and settled on the most traditional. "Who are you?"

"My name is Keiko, and I'm...well, sort of a relative of yours. I introduced your parents to each other," the girl answered, pouring him a cup of tea and setting it before him. She waved a hand and the flames all around subsided, shrinking back a yard or so.

Henry picked up the cup of tea and sniffed it. It was a pale green and smelled like newly mowed grass, in a pleasant way. He was pretty sure it was generally a bad idea to accept edible things from strangers, but on the other hand, he didn't want to offend the strange girl.

"It's OK, Henry-the tea doesn't actually exist, and you can't really drink it, because you're asleep," explained Keiko, smiling.

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Snow, stepped over to the stove and set the tea kettle going. She often found that the little domestic habits Mary Margaret knew were more comforting to Emma than anything from Snow's experience as a princess or rebel. She took two mugs out of the cabinet and readied them with tea bags.

"She tricked me," said Emma, sounding defensive.

Snow looked up from the tea mugs and met her daughter's worried eyes. She spoke gently and carefully, trying to keep judgment out of her tone. "Yes, she did. Why did it work?"

Emma looked back to the stone cube. "I don't know."

"Really, Emma? Do you think lying to yourself is going to change anything here?"

The Sheriff looked up at her mother. Snow's eyes held love, but not a tolerance for self-pitying excuses. She turned to her father, seeking a way out.

He sighed. "I can't tell you what to do. On the one hand, she's done many evil things to our people. On the other hand, my own experience leads me to believe that hearts don't listen to logical argument very well. I've never had much success at directing my heart to do the practical thing."

He grabbed his jacket and opened the door. "I need to take a walk. Emma, I'm sure you'll do whatever is truly in your heart." He carefully closed the door behind him, to avoid waking Henry, and stepped out into the night air.

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The night air smelled of wood smoke and mold. Regina found she had materialized ankle deep in a sort of bog, in which rice was being grown. "Why are we stalking a rice paddy halfway across the world in the middle of the night? I thought you had a very important lesson to teach me?"

The Dark One chuckled. "Even a hovel as lowly as this one has a lesson to teach, and this will be a very valuable one. In this little house lives a beeeeeautiful, young maiden and her grandfather—a poor, but honest farmer. The local daimyo, their lord, wishes to marry the girl, but the grandfather has steadfastly refused, and the powerful spirit of the river nearby is dedicated to protecting the interest of fathers. The daimyo would face a dangerous magical revenge if the spirit suspected him of forcing the situation."

"And we are here, because.."

"Because the daimyo made me a deal, My Dear. You see, the grandfather is ill and has been lingering on the brink of death for some time. He may linger on for another year or so, if left alone. The daimyo merely wishes us to speed the process along a little. The girl will be saved from poverty, the daimyo will get what he wants, and the old man will be spared a slow, painful death. Happy ending! You," said Rumplestiltskin, pointing at the Queen dramatically, "will go put the geezer out of his inconvenient misery. He's asleep, so it should be easy. Use the same spell as for healing, but concentrate on diminishing his strength instead of replenishing it. You will need help from the girl, but she spends every day weeping over her pooooooor wretched life, and will be happy to escape this stench."

"I don't think I can…I don't want to waste my time with this," said the queen, feeling water seep into her boots at the seam.

The Dark One grimaced. "I really don't have time for an apprentice who fights me at every step. If you want to learn real power….and you do, don't you?...you'll go do this little chore for me."

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"I need you to do something for me, Henry," said Keiko. "I need you to tell your mother she made the right choice tomorrow." She reached over to pour herself more tea, and the sleeve to her richly embroidered robe fell away. The skin of her forearm was covered in tattooed writing. Henry squinted to read it, but couldn't make it out.

"Look, I know I'm just a kid, but even I know not to do favors for mysterious, magical strangers, without getting a little more information. Tell me who you really are—not just your name. Are you in one of the stories in my book?" Henry replied, crossing his arms.

"Oh, I am certainly in your book, little prince!" she replied, smiling. "To my mind, I'm the hero of your book—but I suppose it could be disputed. Shall we try it as a riddle? Your mother is my mother, and my father never touched her. I was born the same day as all the clocks in Storybrook, and they all count my age. I was asleep with you, but a kiss woke us both."

Henry took a sip of tea and gazed down into his cup. The bits of tea leaves at the bottom of the cup swirled like a flock of birds, and then settled into a shape that looked vaguely like the map of Storybrook, if you lay it on its side and squished it a bit.

He looked up at the young woman, in the long, blue robe. She smiled at him, and he tried to see what was behind her eyes. He set down his cup carefully, suddenly feeling a little afraid. "You're the curse."

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Emma carefully set her cup down. "It doesn't matter what I want. What I have to do is untangle myself from this. She's been at war with our family for years—she cast the curse that left me to grow up alone. I'm going to go tell her that what happened between us will never happen again. It's over."

Snow put her hand over Emma's for a moment, and then let it go. "It would certainly cause a lot of complication, but…we want you to be happy."

"How could I be happy with someone who hates you?" said Emma, rising from the couch. She grabbed her leather jacket and threw it on.

Out under the stars, Emma sighed heavily, not wanting to go through the conversation she foresaw. As she walked, she tried out various approaches, saying them aloud softly, with no one around to hear but trees and lampposts.

"Regina, I'm flattered, but you're an evil queen, and I've worked so hard to step away from a destructive lifestyle."

"Regina, you're so hot I can't breathe around you, but I don't want to hurt our friendsh…no, that's not right…I don't want to jeopardize our fragile truce that Henry so clearly needs."

"Regina , it's not you, it's me. I need space, and you're a fairytale villain."

Emma stopped and walked back towards Snow's place for a few steps. "Maybe I can just text her," she thought. Then she stopped herself, and forced her feet to keep walking towards the mayor's house.

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Regina had forced her feet to the door of the hut, and forced herself to open the door. She told herself she was doing it for Daniel. To get justice for her beautiful stable boy. To learn the magic she would need to revenge him.

The air in the hut was thick with wood smoke and the smells of sickness. Regina forced herself not to cough or run back out.

Gently, she woke the girl, and explained the deal the daimyo had made. If done with the granddaughter's help, the old man's death would look completely natural, and not even the river spirit would know differently. The girl's eyes grey wide, and filled with tears, but she nodded, and took Regina over by the fire, where her grandfather slept, breathing shallowly.

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The fire crackled around them but didn't come near them. Keiko reached over and plucked a little flame out and placed it under the teapot, where it stayed, neither extinguishing, nor growing.

"That's what everyone, even my mother, calls me, Henry, but things aren't always as they seem. For instance, everyone but you thinks I've been completely broken, when Emma woke you up."

Henry nodded, working it out in his head. "So, before Emma woke me up, you were sort of asleep—not at full power? And now you're awake and ready to do….what?"

"I'm ready to fulfill my purpose—the purpose that was set for me by the Dark One who wrote me, and then by your mother, and further honed by the sacrifice she made in order to bring me life."

Henry stood up. "So, you're going to kill my grandparents?"

Keiko laughed. "Oh, Henry, no! I'm not interested in that at all. You see, that's the thing about intent."

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"The lesson was about intent," Rumplestiltskin said, after he had recovered from an extended fit of cackling at Regina's expense.

Regina and the girl had laid their hands softly on the old man's chest, and Regina had summoned all her will and focus to put the man to death. A haze of golden light had woven itself about the invalid. He had coughed, hacked, cried out in surprise, and then risen from his bed, healthy and very much alive. Regina found herself back outside the door of the hut, staring in confusion at the few small coins the farmer had pressed on her as a reward for her service.

The Dark One chuckled again, enjoying the queen's confusion. "It doesn't matter what intent is, or what you focus on, if your heart is set in another direction. You didn't really want to kill a frail old man—particularly to benefit a petty local lord who you couldn't help but see as being like your king. And the girl wanted to escape from her poverty, but sincerely loved her grandfather too much to truly wish his death. So, your spell twisted in your hands, and served the purpose in your hearts, not the one in your minds."

The queen nodded sullenly, still angry at Rumplestiltskin for mocking her, and furious that her boots had been waterlogged and destroyed just to make a point. She turned back to the door, reached into her purse, and drew out a few pieces of gold, throwing them to the dirt on the doorstep. Then, as the purple mist enveloped her to take her back to the palace, she gave one quick rap on the door.

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Emma knocked sharply on the mayor's door. Her stomach roiled with her nervousness, and she prepared herself to deliver the best of the awful dialogue she had thought of to end things with Regina.

She could hear the sounds of light footsteps on the stairs, and then the mayor opened the door, spilling soft light out on to the doorstep. Regina looked like she had been awakened from sleep. She was dressed only in a thin, black robe, and her hair was clearly the result of a restless slumber. She saw Emma and smiled, as though someone had left the first day of Spring on her doorstep. Then she saw the look on Emma's face, and her smile fell away. "How can I help you, Sheriff Swann?"

Emma opened her mouth, trying to remember what she was going to say. She drew in breath and smelled the scent of Regina's perfume.

Then she kissed the queen.

She kissed Regina with abandon, feeling dizzy and shocked at her own actions. Regina reached around her and pulled her closer, kissing back with that artful, practiced kiss that left no doubt of desire.

And then Emma pulled away and heard herself say what was in her heart, while her mind screamed silently. "I think I love you."

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"Rumplestilstkin thought he was writing a curse, Henry, but all he wanted was to be loved, and be worthy of love—and that was all your mother really wanted for herself when she cast me. And her father, as he died under Regina's knife—all he could think about was how much Regina needed to find another True Love in order to be happy. My direction was set by everyone who helped create me—not just the Dark One, but all three of them, and they all had hearts that fought their minds." Keiko made a little clicking sound and a familiar wolf trotted up from behind Henry to sit at her feet. The wolf looked at Henry, and Henry could clearly see that it was Graham looking at him.

"So, in the end," continues Keiko," it didn't even matter what the words of the spell said, or what effect they were intended to bring. I may take an indirect route, but my purpose is love, and in the end, I will prevail." Keiko looked Henry in the eyes, with uncomfortable intensity. "Will you help me?"

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"Well, I see I will have to help myself out here," muttered Rumplestiltskin, watching the smoke from the queen's departure dissipate.

He walked over to the peasant's door, and as soon as it opened, reached into the old man's chest, and withdrew his heart, crushing it immediately to dust in his fingers. The farmer fell over into the mud at his door with a very final sounding thump.

Behind him in the house, the girl screamed, ran out to her grandfather's body, and threw herself over it, sobbing.

"Sorry, sweetie, but your lord offered me a payment I couldn't resist: certain very old scrolls describing a method of enacting a curse so power….you aren't listening are you? Never mind. I have to go kill an uppity river spirit, and collect my reward. I'll send your fiancée to you straight away. You do like overbearing, old warriors, right? Doesn't matter, I suppose."

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"What you've done should matter, but it doesn't. I should end this, but I can't…" started Emma. Regina cut her off, pulling her into the house and pressing her up against the nearest wall with surprising force.

"Stop thinking and kiss me," growled the queen, pressing her body against the sheriff's and kissing her again. Emma started to protest, but quickly gave in, surrendering to Regina's mouth. All the things she knew they should really discuss seemed to shrink in importance compared to the sensation of their lips and tongues together.

Finally, Regina broke the kiss, and became still against Emma. Emma repressed a whimper of objection to the end of all that pleasure. Regina took Emma's face in her hand, very gently, and looked her intently in the eyes. "Strangely enough, I think I may have feelings for you too, Sheriff. One of those feelings bears a strong resemblance to love. I can't be sure without more….consideration. May I take you up to my bed so we can discuss this with less clothing?"

"Are we actually going to talk?" asked Emma, breathlessly.

"Well, I'm probably going to whisper a few key arguments in your ear, if that counts. I suspect you'll mostly be screaming."

Emma closed her eyes and said yes.

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"Yes, I'll help you," said Henry.

Keiko smiled at him, and pet the head of the wolf that was somehow Graham. The wolf deliberately and gleefully knocked her cup of tea off the table, and started happily and noisily lapping the liquid off the floor, carefully avoiding the glass shards.


End file.
